Shining Dimly Inside the Walls
by Consulting Demon Hunter
Summary: It's been five years since Wall Maria was breached. Five years since everything changed. Now Wall Rose is down and it's up to them to stop the titans.


**A/N: **So I started this over the weekend and decided to post the first chapter. Tell me what you think so far and I'll try to post the next chapter soon.

Also, quick note, FACE family is living together after Wall Maria was breached. They all lost parents/guardians to the titans and look out for each other, Francis being like the big brother/father figure of the group

_Matthew ran, gripping his father's hand tightly. He looked to his left, making sure his brother held the other hand. He was panting slightly, but tried to run as fast as he could. If Alfred could do it, he could too. Matthew's eyes watered as he replayed the horror of what had happened only moments before. His mother was gone, killed by the monsters, the titans. She wasn't the only one, many other were dying as he ran after what was left of his family. Miraculously, they got to the boat taking the people to safety without suffering the same fate as the others. Matthew wanted to stop and catch his breath, but his father pushed him through the crowd harshly and did the same with Alfred. He saw others doing the same._

_His father stopped once both Matthew and Alfred were on, just before the boat started to move. "Dad! Come on, get on!," Alfred yelled. He rushed to the edge of the boat, Matthew following. "Dad!" "Alfred," Matthew said quietly. "He can't, there's no way." "But, Matt...he...he has too." Matthew didn't respond, sitting against edge. He hugged his knees to his chest. "They're gone." "No! He can jump, if he hurries..."_

"Matthew, wake up," Matthew heard a soft voice call him and he opened his eyes slowly. "What?," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. As his sight started to adjust, he could see a pair of concerned, blue eyes stare back."You were talking in your sleep," Francis whispered. Matthew blinked, glancing around the room. It was dark with just enough light for him to see. Alfred and Arthur were still asleep, not stirring at the sound of their voices. "Was I?," he was confused, trying to remember if had been dreaming and what it was he had. Francis nodded, his expression serious."You were ah, mumbling something. I couldn't quite make it out." "It was nothing," Matthew replied, shaking his head as he recalled the dream. "Are you sure, Matthew?,"Francis asked gently. "I-I'm sure. Thank you, Francis" Francis nodded and patted Matthew's shoulder. "Try to go back to sleep, It is too early to be awake." Matthew nodded, grateful that Francis didn't pry. "Okay. _Bonne nuit,_ Francis." "_Bonne nuit,_ Matthew."

Matthew awoke a few hours later, this by Alfred's loud voice. "Come on, Mattie, wake up!," he shook him by his shoulder. "Francis and Arthur are up already!" "M'awake," Matthew yawned. He sat up, stretching quickly. He had barely gotten out of bed before Alfred pulled him to where Arthur and Francis were eating. "Good morning," Matthew mumbled, sitting with the other two boys. "Good morning," Francis replied with a smile. "Are you feeling better?" Matthew nodded. "I slept fine after that." "Somethin' wrong?," Alfred asked, looking at Matthew with worry. "I just had nightmare." "Oh...okay." Alfred didn't pry, but he still looked a bit concerned. They were quiet after that, eating silently before Arthur spoke up.

"I think I'm going to join the Scouting Legion."

Everyone seemed to freeze. "You're what?!," Francis glared at him."Why haven't you told me? You can't do these thing without consulting me first!" Arthur bristled. "I'm only a year younger! I haven't sighed up yet anyway, it was just a thought...," he muttered, lowering his gaze slightly. "I want to help out. We can all join." "Oh cool! We can kill all the titans and save everyone. We'd be like, heroes!," Alfred agreed quickly and with enthusiasm, his eyes widening with excitement. Matthew nodded. "We can, that would be really good!." "Absolutely not," Francis replied with a scowl. He looked at Arthur sadly and sighed. "If...if you want to join, fine, but not them. Don't convince them."

"We're right here," Alfred complained. "We can hear you! Besides, if Arthur can join, why can't we?" "Fine. Arthur's not joining," Francis responded, shrugging and taking a bite of his food. "What?!," Arthur cried. "You're too young-" "I'm thirteen, that's only a year younger than you! Why don't you join then? We don't have to go alone." Francis looked down. He could feel his eyes water, but he didn't want to start crying, not in front of them. "We can't. I lost my parent to the titans. You lost your parents to them," he said quietly, looking at Alfred and Matthew. "I can't lose-I can't let you risk your lives this way." "Then do what Arthur said, join with us," Alfred prompted, seeming to have lost some of his enthusiasm, though not enough to lose his persistence. "He's right, you can watch out for us this way," Matthew added. "I...I'll think about it"

* * *

Lovino sat outside, waiting for his brother and Antonio to come back. He probably should have been cleaning, but he wasn't in the mood. Well, he was never in the mood. Lovino grabbed a stick and scraped it against the ground, tracing shapes to entertain himself. How boring everything was... After a while, he heard laughter and a cheerful voice call him from afar. "Hey Lovi! Look at all the wood I collected!," Feliciano ran up to him, stumbling a bit but managing to steady himself before he fell. Lovino looked up, managing to give a smile small to his brother. "Good, you've ah, done a good job. Why don't you go take it inside?" Feliciano nodded and grinned, running inside. Antonio came up after him. "Hello Lovino!," he greeted happily. "Yeah, hi," Lovino muttered, walking inside after Feliciano with Antonio coming in after him. Antonio set down the wood next to where Felciano was putting it away. "Could you put that away for me, Lovi?" "Put it away yourself, you brought it," Lovino replied with a scowl. "I was going to get Bella and Lars...could you?" "Fine," Lovino walked back outside and down the road.

'_Maybe I should have helped him more...no, he brought it, he should put it away,'_Lovino thought to himself. He walked up to a small house and knocked, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for someone to answer the door. The door was cracked opened slightly before opening more. "Oh hello Lovino! Can I help you with something,?" Bella smiled at him. Lovino couldn't quite place it, but something seemed off about the girl. "Antonio told me to come get you and Lars," Lovino responded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other impatiently. "Okay, let me go call him," Bella turned around quickly. "I'll be right back." "Okay," Lovino said. He could hear Bella talking to Lars. It sounded a bit like the start of an argument, but it calmed down before anything serious happened. Bella came back with Lars following her seriously. "Okay, let's go!" Lovino walked ahead of them quietly. Once again, he could hear them could hear them talking among themselves. He tried to listen in, but they were talking too quietly for him to hear so he decided to ignore it.

"Back," he called once they arrived. Antonio smiled brightly. "Good morning, Lars and Bella!" "Hi!," Felciano greeted from where he sat at the table. "Guess what, Lovi! We're having tomato soup!" "Who would have guessed," Lars muttered under his breath. Lovino shot him a glare and he sat with Feliciano, taking some food for himself. The other joined soon after. Felciano proudly told Bella about how he helped out in the morning. "-and Lovino said I did good!," he finished of with a smile."That's great, Feli! You did do good," Bella smiled back. Feliciano sat up straighter and went back to eating.

The table fell quiet until Lars broke the silence. "Bella's thinking of joining the Scouting Legion," he sighed and glanced over at Antonio. "She won't listen to me, I thought maybe you could talk some sense into her." Bella pushed away her food. "Why not? It's my decision, isn't it?," she looked over at Lovino with a pleading look. "What? No, Bella!," Antonio cried, his smile fading quickly. "You-you shouldn't...," Antonio looked down, his voice trailing of uncertainly. "I want to join too," Lovino blurted out. Looking back at it, he didn't really consider it a spur of the moment decision, it just seemed right. Lars glared at him, while Antonio and Felciano stared at him in shock. "You do?," Bella asked quietly. Lovino nodded quickly. "Yes, I do!" "But Lovi, Bella! You'll get hurt," Felciano protested, tears starting to fall down his face. "You can't go! Toni, tell them, please!"

Antonio looked down again and stayed quiet. "It's not my place to tell them what to do," he finally said softly. Lars stood up. He gave them a last look of disappointment and anger before storming out. "I'm sorry," Bella mumbled, running after Lars. The other three sat in silence, Feliciano's sniffling being the only sound. "Do you really want to join, Lovi?," Antonio asked. "Were you just saying that to help Bella?" Lovino hesitated, but he shook his head. "No, well uh, I do want to join. I want to help out the people."_I need to do something. _Antonio nodded slowly. "Okay...okay."

* * *

"-and you wouldn't just be helping and protecting us, you'd be helping and protecting everyone else too!," Alfred finished, looking at Francis hopefully. He had hardly stopped trying to convince Francis to join the recon corps since this morning. Francis was starting to get frustrated. "Alfred, we can't-" "We have to do something! We can't just sit around and do nothing."

"Fine!," Francis snapped. "Fine, I'll go, I'll join with you." At this point, he knew the idea had planted itself in Alfred's mind and there was no convincing him otherwise. There was no changing Arthur's mind either and if those two were going, Matthew was sure to follow. If they were all going, what was the point of Francis staying behind? They were all he had. "R-really?," Alfred stared at him before smiling widely. "Great! Can I go tell Mattie and Arthur?" Francis just nodded and Alfred ran off excitedly. He glanced after him before following slowly, It was too late to take back his words and he didn't really want to. He just wished he never had a reason to say them in the first place.


End file.
